Iron Pen Challenge 2011
by SassyK
Summary: Various entries for Twi Network's Iron Pen Challenge. A secret ingredient—phrase, object, location, etc.—and thirty minutes to make something out of it. Rated K to M.
1. Dark Revenge

**This is my entry for the June 2011 Iron Pen Challenge. You're given a secret ingredient—a word, phrase, location, etc.—and 30 minutes to write a story or blurb containing that ingredient. It really is a challenge! This month's ingredient was "pirate", so with visions of Capt. Jack Sparrow in the back of my mind, I came up with the following piece. Unbeta'ed, so please excuse the errors. :-)**

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><p><strong>~~Dark Revenge~~<strong>

Edward Cullen could think of nothing he loved more than being at sea. The wind in his face, the smell of salt thick in the air, the taste of freedom on his tongue; it was truly an unrivaled experience.

He was a pirate, and proud of it. He followed in his father's footsteps, who had taken to the pirating ways after an unsatisfactory stint in the Royal Navy. Sent to the brink by an unscrupulous boatswain, he wasted precious years in captivity. Carlisle Cullen was released a broken and sickly man—but not broken enough to prevent him from hunting down the one who betrayed him, and silencing his betrayer by cutting out his tongue. Satisfied with his revenge, Carlisle took flight, and was never heard from again.

Edward had been around ships all his life. When his father was in prison, he survived by taking on odd jobs at the wharf, eventually earning himself a spot as a deckhand on a merchant ship. His determination and skill impressed his superiors, and he eventually worked his way up from powder monkey to first mate on the Mary Rose. His future was looking bright indeed.

Unfortunately, on the way back to England from the Caribbean, the Mary Rose came under attack from a formidable pirate ship called the Dark Revenge. They put up a valiant fight, but the pirate vessel was larger and its crew cutthroat. Only a few survived, Edward amongst them. He was taken captive and fortunately for him, left alive, for the Dark Revenge had sustained heavy losses and needed all the men they could to build up their crew.

Maybe it was in his blood, but something about this life appealed to Edward. He did not particularly enjoy the taking of lives and tried his very best to cause no grave harm to the men of the ships that were attacked. He became known for his mercy and several months later, when the old captain succumbed to a fever, Edward was declared captain by the remaining crew.

So here he was, on deck of his new ship, preparing to make port in Port Royal. As much as he loved the sea, he was looking forward to setting forth on dry land again. Specifically, he was looking forward to the company of a woman.

The Dark revenge safely ensconced in the harbor, Edward and his men set out to find the Powder Keg, a well-known public house that was frequented by pirates. Edward stepped inside, his presence strong and commanding . His green eyes scanned the room and was pleased to find several eligible ladies staring back at him invitingly.

It was the woman in the very back who caught his attention. She was young, but her eyes spoke of experience. He approached her, holding out his hand. She took it and he pulled her against him, relishing in her female scent.

"What's your name, girl?" he asked.

"Isabella," she replied softly.

"Well, Isabella, how do you feel about pleasing a pirate this evening?" he asked, stroking her cheek.

"I could think of nothing better, sir. Shall we get started?"

With a coy smile, she led Edward to the stairs.


	2. The Journey

**July's secret ingredient was the book _The Zombie Survival Guide_ by Max Brooks. So, zombies it is...**

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><p><strong>~~The Journey~~<strong>

The year was 2050. Ten years earlier, we'd been warned this day would come. We'd laughed about it, made fun of it and ignored it, like our grandparents had done during the Y2K crisis.

Unlike Y2K, this crisis actually happened.

And now we're paying the price.

As if world-wide nuclear war wasn't catastrophic enough, the ensuing fires and blasts destroyed countless number of laboratories, many of them housing secrets of which most of the world was never aware. Potent, dangerous viruses and flesh-eating bacterium were released into the air. The majority of people—the fortunate ones—died a slow, painful death. Some of us were immune and survived, Edward and myself included.

Then there were those who were survived the scourge, but were not quite immune. The viruses and bacterium took hold of their bodies and transformed them into something unthinkable.

Zombies.

Un-fucking-believable.

Edward and I were hiding out in my house when the first one we encountered stumbled through the door. We watched in horror as it feasted on the remains of my family. We got the hell out of there fast.

As the world reeled from the aftershocks of this apocalypse, people rushed to secure their copies of _The Zombie Survival Guide _by Max Brooks. Libraries were trashed, book stores were looted. It became our Bible and people were not above killing to get their hands on one.

We were lucky—Edward always had a fascination with zombies, so he already had a copy. Grabbing what we could salvage, we had made our way east from Forks.

Looking for what, we had no idea.

Information along the road was scarce. Food wasn't a problem at first, but thanks to no electricity, things got rotten real fast. We lived off of non-perishables, but even they had a funny taste, thanks to the radiation.

Consulting our zombie survival guide, we evaded those fuckers as best as we could. We didn't meet up with too many of them in the beginning, but we didn't want to let down our guard. There's no reasoning with zombies.

Something was about to change; I could feel it. Edward did, too. We held each other close at nights, afraid to sleep for fear of being attacked. We became closer than friends. I'm pretty sure he wanted to have sex with me, but I was too afraid. Why, I don't know. It's not like I had other options or a bright future. But he didn't push it and for that, I was grateful to him.

We got through the first few months relatively unscathed, apart from the few attempts of some other survivors to steal our zombie guide. Edward shot those bastards right away. No one messes with his zombie guide.

Edward Cullen never ceased to amaze me. As our journey wore on, I began to see him differently.

Huh, who knew?


End file.
